Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia’s Antarctic Program

How cold is it?

Casey station expeditioner with ice on clothes and beard (Photo: Craig Butsch)

Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth. The farther from the coast one goes the higher and colder it becomes. In most coastal regions the mean annual temperature is around −12°C, at 1000 metres −20°C, and in the highest parts near 4000 m it falls to −60°C. The lowest surface temperature ever recorded in nature was −89°C at the Russian Vostok station, within the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The video shows the unusual effect of throwing boiling water into the air when the temperature is below about −25°C. Because of the cold dry Antarctic air and the increased surface area of the boiling water droplets when thrown, the water evaporates and then forms a mist of ice and supercooled water droplets.